


Tony Stark's Holiday Secret

by MurphysScribe



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Christmas Music, Gen, Holiday Music, Pre-Slash If You Squint, Sneaky Jarvis is sneaky, mild flirtation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-21
Updated: 2012-11-21
Packaged: 2017-11-19 04:14:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/568975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MurphysScribe/pseuds/MurphysScribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark likes Christmas music. He's kind of obsessed with it, actually. He prefers this not to become common knowledge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tony Stark's Holiday Secret

**Author's Note:**

> Don't own and don't profit from anything Avengers related.  
> Don't own the rights to any of the Christmas music I reference.  
> (Though I own copies of most of it: Where do you think I got the idea?)
> 
> Also: There is no such thing as a good version of Jingle Bell Rock. Just putting that out there.

**Tony's Holiday Secret**

 

Tony Stark loved Christmas music. Bing Crosby, the Waitresses, Merry Christmas Baby, White Christmas, Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer. Scratchy Alan Lomax recordings of gospel choirs. Original songs by bands out to make a buck at this time of year. You name it, he loved it. And not just because his investment portfolio included the rights, and the royalties to “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” and he got a hefty check every January.

You wouldn’t expect it from a billionaire genius playboy philanthropist whose childhood memories of Christmas drew more from Jack Daniels than Norman Rockwell, but Tony loved a good Christmas carol. It was not something many people knew.  Pep knew, of course, and Happy. Rhodey started mocking him around Halloween every year, (but had also found him an original vinyl copy of Johnny and the Three Blazers’ “Merry Christmas Baby,” on eBay).

But the Avengers, the team, had no idea. So, this year was going to be… interesting, since they were all living together like some bizarre superhero-themed sitcom. They’d learned so much about each other: Clint and Bruce were both phenomenal cooks, Natasha drank tea out of delicate, almost translucent, teacups. Thor and his Pop Tarts, Agent Coulson, back from the dead long enough that  he was walking without a cane most days, and they’d all relaxed around him enough to turn in reports late and tease him for reality television and his closet full of suits. But Tony’s secret was safe. Thus far.

“and the boys of the NYPD Blue are singing Galway Baaaay” Tony warbled along with the music blasting in his lab. “and the bells are ringing out on Christmas Day!” If he wasn’t precisely on key, he was in the vicinity. And he was deeply content, surrounded by bits of a circuit board he was redesigning for his suit. It was December 2nd, and no aliens had tried to blow up New York in almost a week. He’d dodged both Agent and Cap’s attempts to get him doing some kind of tree-trimming team building nonsense. (He liked the music, and the occasional Christmas themed movie, but he wasn’t going near tinsel and that was that.) He’d found a few placatory Hanukkah songs for the Stark Industries Winter Holiday Party playlist. And life was good. He bopped around the lab in time to Dr. John’s wonderfully raunchy cover of “Silent Night.”

And then a voice above him cleared its throat. “Sir asked to be notified if anyone approached the lab. Dr. Banner is heading this way with a set of equations he would like to discuss.”

“Thanks, JARVIS. Switch the music!”

When Bruce arrived, AC/DC was screeching about nothing remotely Yuletide oriented, at about background noise level. Tony might have a sonic reputation to maintain, but he didn’t want to rattle the Other Guy’s eardrums. The two of them started flinging numbers back and forth, Tony got a few holographic projections pulled together, and they decided to meet later that night for takeout and a Skype session with Jane, to cover the part that stubbornly refused to balance out in any way obeying the laws of physics.

The second the (soundproof) door to Tony’s lab closed, “White Christmas” replaced “Back in Black,” and Tony found his groove again. “JARVIS, pull up the Bing Crosby version, would you? And then give me some Sinatra?” he asked. He was about to tackle some of the rewiring he needed to do, and he was feeling retro. JARVIS obliged, and Tony immersed himself in his work so completely he barely heard the music he’d requested.

“I know this song!” Tony heard someone murmur. He whirled with a shout, flipping the tiny screwdriver in his hand to be a (somewhat ineffectual) weapon.

Steve stood on the steps of the lab, wearing a green plaid shirt and a slightly awed grin. “I’m sorry—I should have warned you I was coming in, but um, JARVIS just popped the door open, so I thought—you were expecting me.” Captain America concluded, hunching his muscular shoulders. He looked up, shyly. Was he blushing? And why on earth was Tony’s own face heating up?

“Anyway… just wanted to see if you’d eaten today. And I like your music. Reminds me of home.”

“No worries, Cap, it’s all good. You’re welcome any time. I’m sorry about the,” he looked at the screwdriver “attempt to screw you, uh, screwdriver you. And yeah. Food. Probably good idea.” He raked a hand through his hair, but it was the hand holding the screwdriver, so he poked himself in the scalp, but tried not to show that anything had happened. What was he even doing, thinking, maybe he hadn’t eaten today?

“There’s holly upstairs… want some to go with your music?”

Tony barely suppressed a shudder. “Nope. Definitely not into the decorations. Pine trees give me hives.”

“Just the music, then?” Steve grinned.

Tony felt his own mouth curving upwards. “Just the music. Man, you’re missing decades of Christmas music, as well as normal music and pop culture, aren’t you? I bet you’ve never heard ‘Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,’”

Steve looked shocked. “Grandma  _what_?”

Tony waved his hand dismissively “It’s not that great of a song, though it is culturally significant. Novelty record, on par with “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,”

“What?” said Steve again.

Tony searched his memory quickly and realized his mistake. “Before, uh, after your time. 1952, never mind.” He set down the screwdriver. “Listen, yeah, lunch, I’ll come up in a sec. Just have to finish one thing.”

“If I don’t see you in 30 minutes, I’ll come back,” Steve said, raising an eyebrow that looked like he’d copied the gesture from Pepper. And it didn’t fit right on his face.

Tony waved him off. “I’ll be up in a sec, I promise.”

Steve left the lab and Tony glared at the ceiling. “JARVIS—what happened to your orders to warn me if anyone was coming to the lab?”

Silence.

Then. “It was Captain Rogers, and I did not believe Sir would mind….” said JARVIS with just the slightest bit of drawn out hesitation. "Sir's heart rate and respiration have been... elevated in the Captain's vicinity, of late. And I believe Captain Rogers reciprocates that physiological response...."

Tony gaped at the ceiling in silence.

Was his A.I. butler  _playing matchmaker?_

 


End file.
